Biocultural Science & Management

environmental change] New WWF Report Available - Arctic Climate Impact Science

Not a lot of money for clean-up or closing but the projects eligible are broad.

Solid Waste Management - Region 10 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, requests proposals for Solid Waste Management Assistance Grants. Projects may include studies, surveys, investigations, demonstrations, training, and public education programs. Project priority areas include: Reducing the generation of municipal solid waste sent to landfills; reducing the environmental impact of new construction through green building techniques; reducing the toxicity of current or future waste streams; reducing market barriers for environmentally preferable goods; and reducing greenhouse gas production with respect to solid waste management. Projects must take place in AK, ID, OR or WA. $120K expected to be available, up to 6 awards anticipated. Responses due deadline 5/19/08. For more info, contact Jeff Hunt at hunt.jeff AT epa DOTgov or go to http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/HOMEPAGE.NSF/Information/Grants. Refer to Sol# EPA-R10-RCC-2008. (Grants.gov 4/2/08)

This notice comes from the superb Laurie Brown and Solicitations Newsletter, Washington State University Extension Energy Program for distributing these newsletters through their listserv. Send a subscription request to laurie.e.brown AT comcast DOT net Include subscriber’s email address in the body of the message.

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Tumblr Regular Post Digest for hlthenvt

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[I can't get Yahoo Pipes Cleaner Greasemonkey script to work properly to clean up yahoo's messy coding.]

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[environment] Earth Hour The Hour is Near!
Since the sun won’t set until well past 8:30 PM (and light past 10 PM), even us so far south of the Arctic Circle will do just fine. But think about the earth. mpb

EARTH HOUR WEBSITE | SPREAD THE WORD | GET INVOLVED THE HOUR IS NEAR! This is the weekend to take a stand. Earth Hour – this Saturday, March 29 from 8-9 pm local time. You’ll be joining millions of people across the U.S. and around the globe in a monumental call for action on climate change. Here’s a last-minute checklist …

[bird flu, history] Maritime Quarantine in South Pacific Jurisdictions, 1918 –19 Influenza Pandemic compare the story of Wales, Alaska. mpb

McLeod MA, Baker M, Wilson N, Kelly H, Kiedrzynski T, Kool JL. Protective effect of maritime quarantine in South Pacific jurisdictions, 1918–19 influenza pandemic. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008 Mar; [Epub ahead of print] Melissa A. McLeod,* Michael Baker,* Nick Wilson,* Heath Kelly,† Tom Kiedrzynski,‡ and Jacob L. Kool§ *University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand; †Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, Australia;
‡Secretariat of the Pacific…

[safety] Bear spray a viable alternative to guns for deterring bears Remember it isn’t a repellent. Bears will eat canoes, planes, sleeping bags that have been sprayed with pepper spray. mpb

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-03/byu-bsa032508.php Bear spray a viable alternative to guns for deterring bears, BYU study shows. Concerned about hikers’ and campers’ persistent doubts that a small can of liquid pepper spray could stop half a ton of claws, muscle and teeth, BYU bear biologist Thomas S. Smith and colleagues analyzed 20 years of bear pepper spray incidents.…

[aging] Grands As Parents

• [health, tribal law] Court allows suit against tribe for faulty homes
  • I don’t know how this is related to the Blue Legs decision, but that may also be relevant. Tribal governments have a trust responsibility towards their members as part of their recognition as tribal governments by the US. (and a moral responsibility for quality housing) mpb Court allows suit…
• [aging] Impact of Rising Energy Costs on Older Americans
  • http://www.docuticker.com/?p=19898 CRS ­ Impact of Rising Energy Costs on Older Americans Impact of Rising Energy Costs on Older Americans Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS) Energy-related expenditures include spending for utilities and fuel to operate, heat, and cool homes and…
• [haz com] Risk: DHCC Deployment Health News
  • “No good at risk” http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10843051 Human beings are notoriously bad at dealing with risk. Two new books explore why, and investigate the effects that misunderstanding risks can have on public policy. The first, an excellent work by a Canadian…
• [preparedness] Public invited to railroad ‘fair’
  • http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/350588.html Public invited to railroad ‘fair’ The Alaska Railroad will be conducting a whistle stop training tour for emergency responders in 10 communities in coming weeks. 3/19/2008 04:33 PM |
• [disaster, Katrina, pub inv] Cabinet Post for Volunteer Management
  • California Creates Cabinet Post for Volunteer Management (2/29/08) California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to create a cabinet-level office for volunteer management, the first such state-level office in the country, the New York Times reports. While the governor’s commission for…
• [aging, nonagenarian] Scientific Visionary
  • Arthur C. Clarke, 90; Scientific Visionary from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required) Arthur C. Clarke, who peered into the heavens with a homemade telescope as a boy and grew up to become a visionary titan of science-fiction writing and collaborated with director Stanley Kubrick on the…
• [bird flu, PPE] Preparing for an Influenza Pandemic: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers
  • http://www.docuticker.com/?p=18251 Preparing for an Influenza Pandemic: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers Preparing for an Influenza Pandemic: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers Source: Institute of Medicine/National Academies Press During an influenza pandemic,…
• [bird flu] Role of Terrestrial Wild Birds in Ecology of Influenza A Virus (H5N1)
  • http://www.docuticker.com/?p=17199 Role of Terrestrial Wild Birds in Ecology of Influenza A Virus (H5N1) Role of Terrestrial Wild Birds in Ecology of Influenza A Virus (H5N1) (PDF; 89 KB) Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC) House sparrows, European starlings, and Carneux pigeons were…
• [bird flu, children] Social contact networks for the spread of pandemic influenza in children and teenagers
  • http://www.docuticker.com/?p=19388 Social contact networks for the spread of pandemic influenza in children and teenagers Social contact networks for the spread of pandemic influenza in children and teenagers Source: BMC Public Health High-school students may form the local transmission backbone of…
• [aging, envt, health] March 2008 U.S. EPA Aging Initiative List Serve
  • Health Canada Holds Workshop on Older Adults and Environmental Health Health Canada organized its first workshop on Older Adults’ Health and the Environment in Ottawa on February 5-6, 2008 to improve its understanding of the nature and extent of the relationship between the environment and the…
• [SciTEK, CBR, pub inv] frogs in Alaska
  • RE: http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2007/04/27/frogs/ Thanks for spreading the word. We hope to have participants from all over the Y-K area helping to understand frogs. We’ve had regular participation from a school in Shageluk. Next year I will have staff that will allow visits to towns and…
• [SciTEK] PS– SciTEK Teacher resources of resources
  • Forget another great resource but one I am selective about in forwarding— SCIENCE IN THE NEWS from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society “Science in the News” is produced daily by Sigma Xi as a service for its members and the public. It highlights science and technology news stories…
• SciTEK Teacher resources of resources
  • Just a reminder— 1) I’ve found the following to be consistently interesting and useful. There’s no point in my sending their news onward (what would I excerpt?) Consequently, I recommend everyone sign up for their RSS feeds or list-servs. 2) These FYI.Sci.TEK E-mails used to be archived If…
• [law] Loads more US caselaw online for free
  • http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/16/loads-more-us-casela.html Loads more US caselaw online for free Rogue archivist Carl Malamud sez, “Public.Resource.Org today released a metric boatload of early federal case law (1880-1923), known as the First Series of the Federal Reporter. The Second and…

These digests are described here, Briefs 5a, now Tumblrd

• [preparedness, accessibility] Horseradish smell fire-alarm for waking up deaf people
  • http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/09/horseradish-smell-fi.html Horseradish smell fire-alarm for waking up deaf people Nelson sez, “Japanese researchers have developed a fire alarm that sprays the aroma of horseradish instead of ringing an alarm. It was effective in waking 13 out of fourteen test…
• [heritage] ConsDistList Training for Audiovisual Preservation
  • Date: 6 Mar 2008 From: Yola de Lusenet Subject: New site—Digitization workflow for audio tape Training for Audiovisual Preservation in Europe (TAPE) http://www.tape-online.net has published web-based guidelines for digitisation. They describe the digitisation workflow for analogue open reel tapes…
• [sciencing] Health Literacy News
  • http://nnlm.gov/mcr/bhic/?p=2746 Health Literacy News “In Other Words…Helping Patients Separate True Health Information From False.” It’s common for people to recall false information as true. For people to remember information accurately, they need to recall both the “claim” ­ the core piece…
• [health] AK Epidemiology Bulletins - lead
  • The latest Section of Epidemiology Bulletin, Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance Non-Occupational Exposures in Adults and Children — Alaska, 1995-2006 March 7, 2008 is now available. The document is attached to this email. You will also find below a link to the document, which has been posted…
• [history, AI/AN, update] The Native Perspective on the Year 1848
  • Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 16:08:02 -0500 From: “Seneca, Dean (ATSDR/DHAC/EISAB)” zkg8 AT CDC DOT GOV Subject: [NRN] The Native Perspective on the Year 1848 Hello colleagues and friends, I hope your doing well this Friday afternoon. I am conducting a presentation at this years Annual American Public…
• [water] Abenaki Associates set to Unveil Safe Water Software at Symposium This Month
  • http://www.nationtalk.ca/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7148 Abenaki Associates set to Unveil Safe Water Software at Symposium This Month For Immediate Release: Eel Ground First Nation, NB March 04, 2008 – In response to growing concerns over safe water in Aboriginal communities, Abenaki…
• [ENVT, SCIENCE, POLICE, GARBAGE]
  • US diplomats ‘should pay more attention to science’ http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=4270&language=1 An advisory panel has recommended that the US State Department prioritises science and technology and improves its scientific literacy. SciDev.Net Weekly…
• [BIRD FLU] CITETRACK ALERT H5N1 ALASKA (IN J. CLIN. MICROBIOL.)
  • Your Science CiteTrack Alert has found 1 article matching your criteria in J. Clin. Microbiol.. Below are results 1 to 1. Alert Criteria Anywhere in Article: H5N1 bird Alaska flu Realtime RT-PCR Assay Unable to Detect H7 Subtype Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated from Wild Birds Zheng Xing, Carol…
• [rural development] Rural Alaska entrepreneurship success possible
  • http://aprn.org/2008/03/05/rural-alaska-entrepreneurship-success-possible-but-elusive/ >Rural Alaska entrepreneurship success possible, but elusive A new report maintains that while starting a business in bush Alaska is very difficult, it is possible to be successful. That is, provided certain…
• [envt change] AK climate change sub-cabinet meeting
  • March 13, 2008 Anchorage Public meeting will be held by the GOVERNORS SUB-CABINET ON CLIMATE from Noon until 5pm in Room 240, Atwood Building. Public comments will start at 2:15. To sign up in advance, contact Kolena Momberger at 907-269-7634 or email kolena.momberger AT alaska DOT gov. For the…
• [envt change] IPY Conference Announcement - Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
  • To: “ArcticInfo” list.arcus.orgSubject: IPY Conference Announcement - Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in ScienceConference Announcement > International Polar Year: Global Change in Our Communities >Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science…
• [Bird flu] PALMER - THE BIRD FLU AND YOU
  • March 9, 2008 PALMER - THE BIRD FLU AND YOU will be presented from 2 to 3:30pm at Spring Creek Farm. What do Ducks, Geese, Indonesia, the Palmer Hay Flats and Chickens have in Common? Come learn about flu viruses and how they are affecting birds and people around the world, including Alaska. This…
• [Envt change] Climate, Language and Indigenous Perspectives
  • Workshop Announcement Climate, Language and Indigenous Perspectives 13-15 August 2008 Alaska Native Language Center University of Alaska Fairbanks Abstract Deadline: Saturday, 15 March 2008 For further information, please contact: Olga Lovick E-mail: Olga @ lithophile com Phone 907-474-5591
• [health, preparedness] Flu immunizations for children will pose big challenge
  • We have enough trouble get vaccines out here, even for elders. >CIDRAP News Headlines, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 > http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/general/news/mar0508fluvax.html Flu >immunizations for children will pose big challenge >Starting next fall, how will the…

I hope they discuss small scale (on the household or even a group of households level) and not just municipal wide. Alaska Battery (ABS) has long advocated wind generators for battery storage.

Notice from the excellent WHAT’S UP - January 2, 2008- Compiled Weekly by Peg Tileston
On behalf of the Alaska Women’s Environmental Network (AWEN), Alaska Center for the Environment (ACE), and Alaska Conservation Alliance (ACA)

Deadline January 10 & 11 2008
BETHEL - BETHEL REGIONAL WIND DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP will be held at the Bethel Cultural Center. Following meetings held in Bethel in 2005 and 2006 and in light of rising diesel prices, strong community interest, and successful wind-diesel projects in Toksook Bay and Kasigluk this meeting will bring together leaders from across the Yukon & Kuskokwim River deltas to discuss approaches that can be initiated to expand the use of wind energy throughout this Region. There is no registration fee however we are asking that people register no later that January 3. Limited travel scholarships are available. For more information or to register visit:
www.windpoweringamerica.gov/calendar.asp or contact Hannah Willard of REAP at 907-929-7770 or Martina Dabo of AEA at 907-771-3000. To see the agenda, go to
(pdf file) http://www.akenergyauthority.org/wind/BethelWindSeminarAgenda12-11-07.pdf

Site Search Tags: deadline, workshop, energy, windpower, YK+Delta, Whats+Up

[this year no gales, no rain, no longer 25 below zero F]

[In process]
Background*
Part 1**

Part 2*** From a follow-up to the newslist discussion about anthropology and climate change–

Q. “So…what can we do to solve this problem? Can we think like engineers?”

Please, don’t. Not even anthropological engineers. For example, see this — Keep reading →

[In process]

Background*
Part 1**
Part 2*** [separate post]

* Background

I think there is a need for anthropological perspective in any issue of human existence.

It is a sad irony that the discipline (science) which is most comprehensive and fundamental (science is a human activity and the basic science of human activity is anthropology) has often seemed through its profession association to be narrowly focussed and consequently irrelevant.

Last month, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) accompanied the chairwoman of the Disaster Recovery subcommittee, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to another hearing, in Anchorage, about the few places in Alaska designated for US Army Corps of Engineers environmental management [sic].

The anthropologists are about to have their annual conference in Washington DC and will be exercised about the U.S. Army recruiting anthropologists (Human Terrain Systems). On the other hand, Barack Obama is hip to Margaret Mead “Obama demonstrated that he understood the reasons why America for decades (think of the Bay of Pigs invasion) has made gravely serious national security decisions based on laughably inaccurate intelligence.”

Meanwhile, none of our western Alaska or Mississippi deltas is taken seriously. “Rush Limbaugh adds Alaskan to polarizing efforts.”

The best the state of Alaska has done so far is issue an official pass to a non-existent mass disease shelter in the region’s pandemic preparedness exercise this year (flu shot clinic).

I think if Governor Palin actually had a scientific advisor to her environmental sub-cabinet especially from rural Alaska or if Landrieu and Stevens could earmark enough funding out of the millions for the Corps mission in Alaska to pay for scientific support for the Unorganized Borough [over half of Alaska's area, 970,500 km² (374,712 square miles), an area larger than France and Germany combined], this actually would be more effective than the endless photo-op and news stories about polar bears without ice.

How do we bring attention to the need for comprehensive analysis, assessment, and action on environmental change? No one would think of building a levee without an engineer, why are we doing relocation and reconstruction of communities — in Alaska and Louisiana / Mississippi — without a human scientist / human ecologist (anthropologist)?

[This analogy would work better if I didn't already know that someone in DC thought of managing emergencies with a horse show announcer.] At the very least we need to aggregate the existing knowledge that we know full well must be included, whether for a northern or a southern delta.

It may not be a direct plus for NOLA– my records precede Katrina and I read Voices of New Orleans. If all the people and power and money there can’t get trailers that the Feds are allowed to inspect — but I think the imaginative scale in Alaska would be easier to actually test many of these concepts and approaches.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keep reading →